Content area
Full text
Abstract: Critical services are delivered to the public through collaborative or group activity, and building the skills to work effectively with others is arguably an essential core competency for those serving the public through nonprofit organizations. This article examines the question of how to foster effective groups when members of those groups are volunteers who engage in complex and dangerous work with low control over their job environments-volunteer firefighters. Using survey data from firefighters, we explore the question of how volunteers view their group experience- the degree to which they perceive cohesive groups through dimensions of affective, behavioral, and cognitive group identification -and what factors impact this group identification. Results indicate that transformational leadership impacts both affective and cognitive identification, while participation efficacy impacts behavioral and cognitive group identification. Extensive and collective group training experiences have a positive effect on all three types of identification. The article concludes with discussion and implications for nonprofit and volunteer management and how to harness these identification processes to build more cohesive volunteer groups.
Keywords: Group identification, leadership, volunteers, firefighters
Points for Practitioners
* Leaders who create close connections with subordinates and focus on organizational mission are more likely to have volunteers who feel close with other group members and think of themselves as a belonging to the group.
* Volunteers who feel their work is important and making a difference are more likely to behave in a manner that recognizes the interdependence of work activities and think of themselves as a belonging to the group.
* Extensive group training experiences among volunteers has a positive association with feelings of closeness with group members, self-categorization as a group member, and behaving in a manner that recognizes interdependence.
Critical services are often delivered to the public through collaborative or group activity, and building the skills to work effectively with others is arguably an essential core competency for those serving the public through nonprofit organizations. Effective groups may become even more important when services involve significant risk for service recipients or threats to those delivering services, such as emergency medical services providers or firefighters. Groups management in this context is made more complex when group members are volunteers who may be driven by different motivations and expectations for the volunteer...